Real Talk

November 2016

Second, I’ve been trying to wrap my head around this for the past 12 hours. I’ve wracked my brain thinking about how to explain to my pro-Trump family members, friends, and loved ones as to why this is so upsetting and traumatizing. It’s so difficult to express to those who just don’t get it.

People wanted “change” and to erase the typical political bullshit. I get that. I by no means think politicians are saints, but a majority of the time, politicians lie out of protection instead of malice. People like Trump because he’s not a politician. (Because why would you want a politician to do the job of a politician?? Next time you need surgery are you going to see someone who isn’t a surgeon?)

People say Trump “tells it like it is” and “speaks his mind” so he must be trustworthy. He’s ~relatable~ right?! In the words of Donald J. Trump himself, “WRONG.”

Donald Trump is not for you. He does not have your best interests at heart, should he miraculously have one. He is a so-called rich white man, born with a gold spoon in his mouth. He has not struggled. He is not for the working class or middle America. He doesn’t know what it’s like to not have health insurance or to be the victim of prejudice. He doesn’t give a shit about you.

One of my best friends is Mexican. Her parents are immigrants. She’s legitimately scared of the hatred being spilled toward Hispanics.

One of my best friends is married to an Iranian man, who is Muslim. He’s terrified of the hate he may soon experience because the President-elect believes Muslims are terrorists or know terrorists, as if they’re all in a GroupMe together.

My black friends feel isolated and horrified because the nation has elected someone that was endorsed by the KKK and refused to denounce it. They woke up in the morning to KKK members celebrating in public. They do not feel safe, and why would they?

My LGBTQ friends are feeling worse than ever as the nation has elected someone who plans to overturn the Supreme Court decision that made gay marriage legal. Because people are so worried about other people’s sex lives as if it affects them when the heterosexual divorce rate is 50%. The nation has elected someone who’s running mate supports conversion therapy, which means using electro-shock treatments to literally shock the gay out of people. And he signed a “religious freedom bill” allowing businesses to discriminate against people based on sexual orientation.

The majority of my female friends are panicking because, yes, our nation is sexist. But now we know how sexist. Now we have a President-elect who has no problem sexually assaulting women and bragging about it, who thinks women are disgusting and beneath him, who believes pregnant women are bad for employers, and the list goes on and on and on to the point where I’m exhausted. When you have a leader who believes those things, you have his followers who believes those things as well. Some men have already been bragging about that it will “be legal to grab pussy now” and laughing. That is horrific.

I cannot imagine what people of color and minorities are feeling right now. I’m terrified. Not necessarily because I think Trump will be able to do a lot of the crazy things he said. I’m scared because of his supporters who think they have permission now to do whatever they want.

I’ve always felt unsafe as a woman in this country, especially as I’ve gotten older and more aware.

I have been sexually assaulted in private and multiple times in public.

I have been grabbed by the pussy many times in my life. The first time it happened I was 8-years-old. My neighbor did it.

I have had my breasts groped because guys felt they had the right to touch me. This happens on a regular basis.

I’ve had men grab my hair and smell it because they felt like it.

I’ve had strangers grab me by the wrist as I walked by because they “just want to know me.”

I’ve been cornered by an executive who harassed me, telling me he wanted to sleep with me during a company event. I was told my career would be ruined if I came forward and that I shouldn’t ruin the man’s reputation when I should be flattered.

I have been followed home from work, into my building, by a man who was mad that I refused his catcalls.

I have been told I owed a man sex—or at least a blowjob!—because he bought me drinks at a bar.

I have been told I cannot do certain things because I am a woman, despite the fact that I am incredibly more talented andhard-working than many of the men I’ve worked with.

I have been told I deserve to be paid less because I have a vagina.

I have been told to “get back in the kitchen” and to “shut up and learn my place.”

I have been threatened by men I did not know and by men I dated.

I have been called too sensitive when I express any feelings and bitchy and shrill when I don’t.

I have been told I was bossy when leading projects.

I have been told I am “too pretty to be so smart.”

I have been told I am worthless.

I have been told I am nothing.

I have been told I am just something to fuck.

And you just elected someone who supports all of the above.

Please remember to spread kindness and love, not hate. I’m not happy, like many of you, but let’s work together to keep moving forward. I want a future where when I have a daughter she doesn’t have to write a think piece about how society hates her and her friends.

Why I’m Terrified as a Woman That Trump Won the Election Caitlin
2017-02-11T20:58:20+00:00